Friday, March 27, 2009

Is the week over? It's Friday? I never thought this weekend would arrive. Not that I'm going to be doing anything super swell and fun though part of the weekend I will. I was able to borrow a drum carder from one of my spinning buddies so will be working on prepping up the Columbia and the Lincoln fleeces into batts for spinning. I may do some blending experiments too to see what I can come up with. I have some bits and pieces of exotics I'd like to blend in with some wools. But Sunday will be spent on a liquid diet followed by prepping for a colonoscopy to be done on Monday. It's not a routine one either, so I'll be glad to get it over with. Last Sunday was more fun, meeting up with Dan and going to see Slumdog Millionaire. The images of all the colorful fabrics stay in my mind.

The secret project is done and will be heading out tomorrow to its intended recipient. I'll be able to tell more about it as soon as she gets it, so you just have to wait. I know I know, it's hard. In the meantime, I've dug up some yarn Ted gave me a couple of years ago that I had originally started knitting up Rose of England but ripped it all out when I stopped knitting it and found when I came back that I had stopped in the middle of the round and had no idea where I was in the repeats. This time I'm doing a simple triangular shawl with stripes of handdyed Page Mill Farms sock yarn inserted in it. I'd be doing the QAL except at work during breaks and lunch I'm often in conversation with friends, so this shawl, done in garter stitch, is just the right kind of project that keeps me occupied. The light was lousy for pics today; I'll try to get some up later because the two yarns complement each other so well.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

The lovely scarf QueerJoe knitted for me is getting lots of oohs and ahhs. I can't help but share, it's so nice. Rodger of Abundant Yarn wanted to adopt it for his own, but I gently wrested away from him. He does look lovely in it, but then he has a natural ability to pose artistically.

I made a trip out to Canby to drop off fleeces for cleaning and processing into roving. One thing I like about heading out into the country is going into a Wilco, a farm and ranch supply store, to see what they have. You're not going to find a store with farm supplies in the mall, and since it's to provide things that help keep a farm running you find all sorts of things. I stopped in one, a brand spanking new Wilco in Canby, and browsed for a while. I found welding shields, traffic cones, horse tack, heavy duty clothing, gopher traps, a dozen kinds of brooms, and propane tank parts. I came out with a Brute trash can, a heavy duty feed bucket (larger than the usual buckets you find at the grocery store), long sleeved PVC gloves (excellent for really messy projects like dyeing fiber), packets of seeds, and cat litter. For a fiberholic city girl it's a treasure trove.

The secret project is getting close to completion. I have a couple more repeats of the motif then I can work on the final border. I'm on row 105 on the Queen Sized Queen Anne's Lace which is waiting for me to finish the secret project. In between knitting sessions, a few spinning projects are getting done. Last night was the plying of the last of the Miami Stripes yarn. A few more yards were added to the baby alpaca laceweight singles. Some alpaca samples were done up for StitchJones and I played with a sample of fiber from H.A.Y.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Today I came home to a box on the porch. A little one. One I have been waiting for from a very special person.

Back in January I received an invitation to the second Fiber to Scarf project hosted by Ted Myatt. This year I sent off 8 oz. of StitchJones' Anjelica BFL roving into the ether, albeit reluctantly because the colors were so nummy. I got my fiber and it's spun and currently on the needles, so I didn't expect a response for a few months. Imagine my surprise when I get an email from Queer Joe saying that he's the one who got the roving.

I'm an avid reader of QueerJoe's blog and knew he had participated in last year's F2S. So when he wrote that he was busy spinning and knitting a secret project I suspected he was doing it again. So I emailed him a teaser for one of the conditions for participation is that you don't blog about the project. Secret project indeed. Yes he was working on it and was enjoying it so much that he was nearly finished. Then not long after that he emailed me that he was my fiber recipient and the scarf was done. If you've seen his work, you'd understand my joy. His lace knitting is exquisite and his designwork fabulous.

I give you QueerJoe's Anjelica scarf.

To add to the fun he tucked in a bag (just the right size for a spinning project or socks) filled with tools, the remaining yarn from the scarf, a dpn case, and a jigsaw puzzle magnet with a sheep. More than what I expected, which adds frosting to this wonderful cake.

Thank you Joe for the wonderful scarf and goodies. And thank you again Ted for hosting this fun event. I better get cooking on mine!

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Imagine you're just minding your own business, just bopping around in your pasture with your buddies on a cool spring day.

Then some guys come along and herd you and your buddies into a barn. It's a little snug but it's warm and dry. There are some noises on the other side of the wall and some low chatter, but for the most part you're calm.

Suddenly someone grabs a hold of you and another bops you on your butt and starts shaving you. The noise is terrifying and the cool air hits your body before you know it. You're turned and twisted, the clippers buzzing all over your body and legs.

Next thing you know it's over. The guy who had shaved you lets you go, another guy guides you out to the pasture, and off you run. The cold hits you and you wonder where your friends are. You call and call and they answer, but some weird people show up. You realize then they are your friends, only shaven. Somewhere you hear the voices of women cackling with delight.

It was this Saturday that I and some of the members of the Portland Spinnerati went to Jon and Ronda Schultze's farm where we helped with the skirting of their Icelandic sheep. Eddie, a shearer from New Zealand, came to shear and eight of us took the shorn fleece and removed the vegetable matter, dung tags, second cuts, and mats.

Our reward? A car full of fleeces ready to be taken to the processors.

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

They say a person is known for the things on his/her desk. What do you think?

Friday night while I watched movies I didn't want to work on the usual things, so I decided to make myself a bag for my spinning gear. It's made of Cascade 220 and Noro Kureyon with a Moebius handle I took from Cat Bordhi's first Treasury of Magical Knitting. I got it done in an evening and felted it while doing my laundry. I like the colors but am not too thrilled with its floppiness so I'm going to hunt in the remnants of my fabric stash to see if I can find a couple of fun fabrics for making a lining.